Thirumalai Kumaraswamy Temple, Panpoli – The Temple
Thirumalai
Murugan temple is situated on a small hill surrounded by Western Ghats in the
border of Kerala and located at a height of 400 m in Western Ghats can be
reached by 625 steep steps from the foothills. The main deity Murugan is found
with four hands in the standing posture. The deity here is called Thirumalai
Kumaraswamy or Thirumalai Murugan. The presiding deity is also known as
Mookan. Because of the lords name most of the people in this region have
the name 'Thirumalai'. There is one more goddess temple within this temple,
called 'Thirumalai Amman'.
This
hill temple is surrounded by many coconut plantations and small villages. Until
recently, the only way for devotees to reach the temple was by walking. This
temple has 2 enclosures and two entrances. The sanctum faces the east. The
temple boasts a mukha-mandapa, maha-mandapa in front of the sanctum. At the
entrance of the main sanctum, there is a small idol for Lord Ganesha. A three
tiered gopuram covers the entrance to the inner enclosure. Much of the current
structure of the temple dates back to 15th century.
There
are few 18th century inscriptions found in the temple. This Hill is
also called Tirikoodamalai. The sacred tree of the site is Tamarind
tree. Lord Murugan is depicted by the Vel weapon. The idol of Valli and peacock
are also found under the Tamarind tree. A small shrine for Lord Ganesh is also
found in the area outside the main shrine. The shrines of
Meenakshi-Sundareswarar, Utsava Shanmukha and Utsava Murugan are also found
within the main shrine. The prakara (corridor) is full of small shrines and
idols such as Kanni Vinayakar, Shasta, Gajalakshmi, Chandikeswarar and
Bhairava.
The tank
is found outside the main shrine. One more shrine for Ganesha named as
Thirupani Vinayakar is also found in the outer region. At the entrance of the
hill, there is a shrine for Lord Vallabha Vinayaka. There are two Padukas –
Foot Symbol. There is another Vinayaka shrine in the middle of the
hill path followed by one to Idumban. This Vinayaga is called as Naduvatta
Vinayakar The sacred spring at the top of the hill is called Ashta
Padmakulam. It is presently called Poonjunai.
A flower
called Kuvalai mentioned in Tamil literatures blossomed here. Only one
flower would blossom a day. The Saptha Kannikas worshipped Muruga by
offering the flower. While the idols of Saptha Kannikas are found only in Lord
Shiva temple, they are installed on the banks of the spring in this temple
too. The seven powers of Mother Parvathi are called Saptha Kannikas.
There are 625 steps to reach the temple at the hill top.
There is
also a motorable road which can take you directly to the entrance of the
temple. This hill temple is surrounded by lot of coconut plantations. There are
16 steps to Lord Vinayaka shrine representing 16 types of wealth as Shodasa
Vinayaka. Shodasa in Sanskrit means 16. The number represents 16
wealth such as education, courage, success, material wealth etc. On
the first of each Tamil month, feeding is organized by a Devotee Association
from 6.00 a.m. till night.
The
shrine of Meenakshi-Sundareswarar along with Ganesh is also found at the
foothills. You can find some small Mandapams and shrines such as Murugan with
Valli-Devasena, Naduvatta Vinayakar and Idumban between foothills and the top
of the hills. The main temple is located at the top of the hills at the
backdrop of Western Ghats and breathtaking aerial view of the surrounding
villages. The current structure of the temple appears to be at least
300-400 years old.
